

AFib is irregular and rapid, while atrial flutter is regular and fast. We also are able to utilize the most advanced mapping systems. Key Takeaways AFib and atrial flutter are both types of arrhythmia, but they have different characteristics. One major difference is that patients with atrial flutter can still sometimes have a regular pulse rate while the pulse is always irregular with AFib. Both conditions increase your risk of stroke and. We are one of only a handful of centers in the United States that provide a complete suite of approaches to AFib, including hybrid procedures with epicardial robotic surgery in conjunction with endocardial ablation. Whereas an atrial flutter is a fast regular beating, atrial fibrillation is an irregular chaotic heart rhythm.

Current research seeks to understand the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation, which appear to come from multiple areas at the same time.Īt the University of Chicago Medicine, our team uses special catheters that allow them to know how much force is being applied onto the tissue, which has been shown to improve the success rate for the procedure. The differences include: Atrial flutter originates from the right atrium, and most atrial fibrillation is mainly caused by arrhythmias in the left atrium. We start with the initial set of treatments and then we get more aggressive as the pest problem declares itself to be more and more stubborn. If it is critically short, it will create fibrillatory conduction and clinical atrial fibrillation if it is sufficiently long, it will result in 1:1 activation. We come in and we do a treatment and we can control the cases but frequently it requires multiple treatments. We give patients the analogy that atrial fibrillation is like a pest problem in your home. Similar to atrial flutter, treatment options for AFib include anticoagulation (blood thinners) and controlling the arrhythmia with medication or catheter ablation therapy.Īblation is also effective in 60% to 70% of AFib patients.
